by Bailey Dark
“A woman like me?” I laugh, stepping out of arms reach as his fingers graze up my arm.
He isn’t fazed by the distance I’ve put between us. Thal closes it in an instant. “Willful and childish.” He grins.
I smirk and roll my eyes. For an instant, I almost thought he was serious. “Yes, those are very important qualities in a partner. Where is Altair?”
It’s been almost an hour since he disappeared. My cheeks heat as I remember the passion we shared just before he rushed from the room. I don’t know what got into me, letting him kiss me like that in front of a room filled with strangers. But for the first time in a long time, I felt wanted and needed, craved even. It was a heady feeling, and I gave into it. I felt like we might have a chance.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Thal teases, pulling away finally.
I blush deeper and purse my lips. “Says the biggest playboy in all of Alnembra.”
Thal shrugs. “Altair must have had to fulfill some of his kingly duties. It wouldn’t take this long to calm from the fog of Summer’s Eve.”
“Why doesn’t it affect you?” I ask, curiosity welling in me.
“I don’t need Summer’s Eve to give into my basest desires.” He grins. “I do it all the time anyway.”
“Charming,” I say with a smirk. I turn towards the ballroom door to see if Altair may have returned. “Is he coming back?”
Thal looses a breath. “I’m sure he will try. In all truth, Verity, Altair can hardly stand to be apart from you.”
My heart skips a beat. I don’t know what I want anymore, but I can’t deny the flush of happiness that blooms through me. “Still, he left me here,” I say.
“He is the King,” Thal says quietly. “It will be like this more often than you think. Altair will miss important moments with you to attend to his duties. He can’t be everywhere at once.”
I feel a twinge of irritation at Thal’s condescending tone – as if I’m a child he needs to educate. “I’m not asking him to. But I won’t deny I would like it if he could follow through with his commitment to take me to the ball.”
“If you want a man like that, a king simply won’t do.” Thal clucks his tongue. “I, on the other hand, would be the perfect choice.”
“Oh, really?” I laugh.
“Laugh all you want,” Thal says smoothly. “But I can’t be trusted with responsibility, which makes the perfect man for you. Think of all the time I’ll have to shower you with affection.”
“I’ve never heard such a pathetic attempt to woo a woman before in my life,” Altair says from the shadows.
I jolt back, eyes wide with surprise as he melts out of the darkness. His hazel eyes are narrowed towards Thal, his hands balled into fists. Thal smiles broadly. “Cousin, you’re back. Verity was just starting to miss you.”
“Was she?” Altair eyes me.
“Clearly I can’t be trusted to entertain a lady of her caliber for more than ten minutes,” Thal jokes.
“Then, go,” Altair murmurs.
A thrill courses through me at Altair’s dangerous tone and the shadows in his eyes. I press my lips together, ducking my eyes as Altair and Thal face off. Thal’s eyes flash but he dips his chin towards me. “Enjoy the evening, Verity.”
I lift a hand to wave as he weaves through the crowd towards the naked, writhing Fae under the arch. I turn on Altair, frowning. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“You would rather spend the night with Thal?” Altair asks, finally stepping into the light.
“He was joking,” I say, rolling my eyes. “He was only teasing me because I wanted you to return. He said you were likely working.”
“I was,” Altair quips.
My lips pull back into a frown as disappointment rushes through me. I had hoped that his long absence had nothing to do with business – that maybe he truly needed time to regain his senses. “What was so important that you couldn’t stay at the ball with me?”
“The Bloodbane are attacking my borders,” he says softly so no one will hear. “I was planning my next steps and sending messages to my generals.”
“The Bloodbane,” I say flatly. I’m tired of hearing about the Bloodbane. I’m tired of their childish bickering and the never-ending conflict. I exhale sharply through my nose.
“What?” He snaps.
“The Bloodbane couldn’t have waited for one night? Not even one night – a few hours?” I scowl.
Altair presses his lips together impatiently. “I am a king, Verity. My country must come first.”
“Of course,” I sigh, defeated. “I’m tired.”
“Tired?” Altair’s voice is laced with disbelief. “Don’t tell me you’re ready to return to your rooms?”
My cold gaze slips towards him. “I am.”
Altair rubs his temples, forcing his coifed hair out of place. “I shall escort you to your rooms.”
“No,” I quip, gathering my skirts. “Enjoy the Summer’s Eve. Announce our engagement if you want.”
“Verity,” he growls, reaching for me.
I dance out of his reach. “Go be a king.”
Without another word, I force my way through the crowds towards the ballroom doors. The Fae are drunk now, even the ones that have lingered on the sidelines throughout the night are feeling the call of their past. I wonder if Altair will join them tonight. I feel a flash of jealousy at the thought; imagining Altair with strange Fae women. I swallow, forcing every emotion but anger and disappointment away.
I slip through the ballroom doors, hoping that maybe Altair will be on my heels to convince me to stay. But he isn’t. Pursing my lips, I kick the heels off my feet and walk barefoot through the castle halls towards my room. The castle seems empty now, all of the servants are either asleep or celebrating Summer’s Eve elsewhere. My thoughts wander to Dain, the sly gardener. I wonder how he celebrates; if he’s with a woman.
Summer’s Eve was a disaster for me. But that seems to be the pattern here. I use my shoulder to push open my door and kick it shut with my foot. The fire is burning merrily, as it always is during the night. I slump into an armchair in front of it and let the flames warm my bare feet. My tulle skirts are bunched around my waist and wrinkling, but I don’t care.
Already, I feel traces of regret pricking at me. I shouldn’t have reacted so emotionally. I shouldn’t have let it bother me that Altair chose to work over returning to me. What we have between us is unconventional and unpredictable. He is a king and I am his silly mortal fiancée. I sigh and lift my left hand to study the ring on my finger.
Perhaps it’s time that I stopped fighting the inevitable.
Chapter 9
Altair
I stare at Verity’s lovely figure disappearing through the crowd. Her tulle skirts are almost caught in the ballroom door as she slips through it. She’s gone. I growl, hands clenched into fists at my side. I was gone longer than I intended, but the situation with the Bloodbane couldn’t be ignore. I rub my temples. Why can’t Verity understand that?
I hear footsteps approach, Thal’s light but sure steps. I turn my head, eyes narrowing towards him. “Thal,” I snarl.
He purses his lips. “I crossed a line.”
“Damn right you did,” I say roughly. “That is my future wife.”
“And she’s unhappy,” he snaps. His green eyes flash and I feel a surge of hesitation.
“What do you care if she’s unhappy?” I ask, my tone softening.
Thal glances away, his shoulders stiffening. “Verity is a good woman. She deserves to be happy. As do you, cousin.”
He turns away before I can respond, and I feel as if I’ve been doused with cold water. Is it me that’s making Verity unhappy? Am I a more terrible beast than I was before she saved me? My heart clenches painfully in my chest and I scowl. This is not how I anticipated this night. I had imagined that the ball would be the perfect chance for Verity and I to grow closer, to enjoy each other’s company.
“Altair,” Navi
says from behind me.
I turn and loose a sigh. “What is it?”
Navi wraps a hand around the hilt of her sword and purses her full lips. She shakes out her short hair. “It’s good that Verity retired for the night. The moon is full now, and your guests are getting wilder by the minute.”
I snort softly at Navi’s attempts to console me. She’s thoughtful and observant, but not always empathetic. “Thank you, Navi,” I say. “I think I’ll go as well.”
She nods sharply and strides away, ever resilient of her duty. I rake a hand through my dark hair and sigh. I had hoped that after Verity broke the curse, we would find happiness. I would find happiness. But it evades me still.
I unbutton my jacket around the collar and sigh as I stride towards the ballroom door. No one will miss me now that the festivities have taken a raucous turn. I’m not interested in celebrating with my subjects. The only one I wanted to be with tonight was Verity, and for an instant, I was.
In the hall, I turn towards the stairs where Verity would have gone. Maybe I can still salvage this night, maybe I can find her and make it right. My gaze drops to the floor. I can never make it right. My time will always be split unevenly between her and my duties. And if she can’t learn to forgive me for it, then we can never be happy together. The thought almost makes me sick to my stomach.
Suddenly, I hear running footsteps approaching. I turn, alert, to see a foot soldier sprinting towards me. He skids to a halt in front of me, panting. “Your Grace, there’s been a murder.”
“Show me,” I demand.
He turns back and hurries the way he came. I follow, taking one last look over my shoulder in the direction of Verity’s room. But I have work to do. Work that never seems to end. The foot soldier leads me out the main doors and down the steps. At the bottom of the stairs, I see a cluster of guards and a few healers. They part silently for me and my stomach recoils as I see what captured their attention.
The messenger that left me only a little while ago is crumbled and folded on the cobblestones. Blood pools around him and coats his face and limbs. I see bones protruding from his skin at odd angles, jagged and streaked in blood. It looks as if he fell from a great height. Lips twisted with disgust and regret, I glance up. There are no parapets here, only open sky.
“What happened here?” I ask.
One of the healers clears their throat. “It appears that he fell.”
“From where?” I demand.
Everyone exchanges a glance. “We don’t know.”
I turn away from the sky and back to the messenger. I was going to send him back to my generals once I finished my letters, but I never did find him. Now I know why. “Take care of this,” I say quietly. “Prepare his body for the funeral and send word to his family with my regards.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” a guard says.
The soldiers lift his corpse gingerly and follow the healers into the bowels of the castle where they embalm those who die inside my walls. I look to the sky once more. The stars wink brightly, as if nothing in the world is wrong. Suddenly, a star disappears before shining again. And another. I narrow my eyes, straining to see. My heart drops as I catch a glimpse of a red cloak flickering in the light of the moon.
Two Bloodbane witches soar above me, heading for the mountains. One of their hoods slips away and I recognize the pale blond hair of its rider. Maaz. My hands clench into fists at my side as I realize what they’ve done to the messenger. They killed him because he gave me news of the border tower. And now they know that I know of their movements. They know they’ve lost the element of surprise and I’ve lost the slight advantage I had over them.
They’ll fly back to their mountain keep and strategize. The Bloodbane will be moving quickly now. I need to move even faster. I crouch and change into the form I wore while I was cursed. My limbs stretch and bulge with muscles, my fingernails curl into heavy claws. I feel my face morph into that of a jaguar, hair sprouting over me. My vision sharpens and brightens in the dark. I stretch out my wings, flexing them. It’s been weeks since I last wore this form. After Verity broke the curse, I thought I didn’t want anything to do with the familiar beast. But I’ve missed it.
With a single beat of my wings, I launch myself into the night sky. I stretch my wings as they catch the air and buoy me higher. I don’t know how I kept the ability to wear this form after Verity broke the curse, but it seems only fitting that now I can use it against Maaz.
I soar through the night sky towards the ruins of the border tower. The castle falls away from my sight. I fly over a few scattered villages. Bonfires roar in the town squares as the Fae dance around the flames. When I was young, Thal and I would sneak out on Summer’s Eve and visit the nearest villages to celebrate with the common folk. Now, it hardly seems familiar.
Soon enough, the forest stretches out beneath me, thick and dense. There are no villages this deep into the forest and few roads cut through it. It’s the perfect place for the Bloodbane to launch an attack against me without catching my attention. I swoop lower as I approach the location of the border tower.
Instead of a tall, stone tower that stands above the trees, the space is empty. I circle the ruins, taking in the huge stone boulders that now rest on the ground. The tower has been scattered, the trees around it crushed by the giant stones that fell from it. The Bloodbane used some sort of powerful magic or catapults to fell the tower. I drop onto the stones and sniff. I smell no animals, no Fae, and no Bloodbane. All I smell is the strong scent of foul magic.
With a growl, I pick through the rubble, looking for any signs that the Bloodbane or my soldiers may have left behind. But the rubble is only filled with stone, dirt, broken furniture, and scattered weapons.
The soldiers stationed here were caught by surprise and slaughtered. What the Bloodbane have done with their bodies, I can’t imagine. But the Bloodbane don’t take Fae prisoners, they detest us too much for that. I take a final look around the devastated tower before flying back to the castle.
When I touch down onto the tallest tower, the sun is already peeking over the horizon. Birds herald the dawn with their singing. Below me, the festivities are coming to an end, but it will be another hour or so before my guests stagger out of the castle and back to their homes.
With a sigh, I lay down on the cold stones of the tower, staring to the east to watch the sun rise. A gentle wind rustles my feathers. Deja-vu settles in me with a feeling of melancholy. I miss the days during the curse that I had nothing to rule over and no duties to fulfill besides trying to make Verity fall in love with me. Now, even my nights are spent working, while Verity suffers alone.
I roll onto my back, careful not to crush my wings. I wonder if I will ever be satisfied. I have thousands of years to live and I want to be content. I want the woman beside me to be happy. I want Alnembra to be safe and prosperous. But that can never be as long as the Bloodbane continue to target Alnembra for their mysterious purpose. The balancing act is taking its toll.
I picture Verity in her room, sleeping soundly. She has no idea what I do to keep this country safe, no idea of the fears that plague me. I growl softly to myself, anger flaring within me. She complains of my absence, but if she had any idea what we truly faced, perhaps she would think differently. My gaze softens and I feel a wave of guilt at my anger towards her. I don’t want Verity to know of the horrors that the Bloodbane will inflict upon us if we can’t stop them.
I crawl to my feet and slip over the edge of the tower. I stretch my wings, catching air to buoy me up. Lazily, I soar towards Verity’s room. The windows and balcony are dark, the only light inside the fading fire. I perch on the balcony railing and peer inside. Verity is curled on her bed, still dressed in the tulle gown. I smile internally, taking in her peaceful face.
Suddenly, my stomach drops as I see a shadow looming over her. The stone railing cracks and crumbles as my claws tighten around it. I lean forward, a snarl rumbling in my chest. The shadow stretches out, like a hand, an
d caresses her cheek. The sun peeks over the mountains, shining into Verity’s room. As the room brightens, the shadow disappears as quickly as it came. My eyes narrow as I try to pierce the details and corners of her room, searching for any sign of it. But there’s nothing. But I know what I saw.
Chapter 10
Verity
The scent of old paper perfumes the air and I breathe it in deeply. I love that smell. It reminds me of when I was a girl and I devoured every book I could get my hands on. I became a librarian because of my childhood spent reading and living in my fantasy worlds. Now, I have the library of my dreams at my disposal, but I don’t feel any satisfaction.
Sighing, I pick through the shelves, searching for anything that might relate to the Bloodbane witches. I need to learn more about myself and my history. Ever since I broke the curse, I’ve had this feeling – this nagging sensation that there is more to me than I want to admit. I want to find out what.
The wizened librarian rounds the corner. Her Fae ears are pointed, and her stride is strong, but wrinkles line her eyes and mouth. She’s older than Reina Yointus even. She lifts her eyes from the cart of books she pushes and smiles. I’ve never learned her name, and I doubt the librarian will ever tell me. She seems to enjoy living in anonymity, watching from the sidelines.
“I haven’t forgotten that you agreed to teach me how to tend for this library,” I say as she approaches.
“And yet you never come to learn.” She stops the cart beside me and slips a heavy tome onto the shelf.
I purse my lips. “I’m sorry, I have other things on my mind.”
“Help yourself to our shelves, but I’m afraid you won’t find what you’re searching for here,” she says, her voice deep with warning.
“What do you mean?” I ask, furrowing my brows.
“I told you, we don’t keep many books about the Bloodbane here. The answers you seek aren’t in any of our records,” she says as she begins to push her cart away.